Tag: Volcanoes

Calendar of the Sun for Sunday, July 1

Calendar of the Sun

1 Haymonath

Day of the Mother of Volcanoes

Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon a red cloth set the figure of a mountain, with incense coming out the peak, a piece of obsidian, and a bowl of cayenne tea.
Offerings: Sip the cayenne tea as a sacrifice. Deal openly with your anger. This is a propitious day to bring up difficult subjects that may spark argument, as long as the issues are actually resolved, and purifications done afterwards.
Daily Meal: Spicy food.

Invocation to the Mother of Volcanoes

Goddess of fire and earth
Goddess of sharp black rock
Goddess whose source is far under the earth
Goddess whom we dare not approach too closely
Goddess whose joyous dance
Broke an island from the sea,
Pele of the ocean islands,
Fuji of the high mountain,
Help me find the best place in my life
Where my rage may spring forth
And build more earth on which I may stand,
And someday grow green and fertile in memory
Of that moment of blazing truth.

Song: Rise with the Fires of Freedom

(All should pass the cayenne tea around and take a sip, and offer their discomfort to the Mother of Volcanoes. None may drink or eat anything else until they have left the room. The rest of the tea is poured out as a libation.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Earth Science Pic for September 15th

Diamond Head Crater

September 15, 2011

DiamondHead-2b

Photographer: Charles W. Carrigan; Charles’s Web site
Summary Author: Charles W. Carrigan

The Hawaiian Islands were formed as the Pacific Plate moved westward over a geologic hot spot. The most populous Hawaiian Island, Oahu, is dominated by two large shield volcanoes that range in age from two to four million years old. However, a fair number of smaller and much younger volcanic craters are also present on Oahu, such as Diamond Head Crater pictured above. These younger eruptions were also much smaller in lava output, and much more explosive in nature than the older shield lavas. The younger volcanic craters are all less than 500,000 years old. They formed after Oahu had moved well off the hot spot and the main shield volcanoes had gone dormant for at least two million years. For example, Oahu is now over 200 mi (320 km) from the still-active Kilauea, on the Big Island, consistent with the modern rate of plate motion of four inches (about 10 cm) a year. What caused these younger eruptions of the Honolulu Volcanic Series so long after the island had moved off the hot spot, their precise ages of eruption, and whether they will erupt again, are current points of research and debate among geoscientists. Photo taken on June 12, 2008.

Photo details: Camera Maker: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY; Camera Model: KODAK EASYSHARE M1033 DIGITAL CAMERA; Focal Length: 12.1mm (35mm equivalent: 68mm); Aperture: f/4.5; Exposure Time: 0.0025 s (1/400); ISO equiv: 80; Exposure Bias: none; Metering Mode: Matrix; Exposure: program (Auto);
White Balance: Auto; Flash Fired: No (enforced); Color Space: sRGB.